


her for her

by falloutboyz



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s02e17 End Game, Extended Scene, F/M, Mild Angst, i dont know what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 10:36:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16262465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falloutboyz/pseuds/falloutboyz
Summary: Why did he trade her for her? Or, Scully’s stream of consciousness and an additional scene in 2x17 end game





	her for her

Scully sits in the car and watches him grip the railing of the bridge. He leans over and shouts out, _Samantha, Samantha, Samantha_. Her eyes widen in shock. Her jaw goes slack. She sits there, gaping. His Samantha?

Mulder was trading her for _her_? The source of all Mulder’s devotion and belief, for her? She can’t believe it. It’s paradoxical. He said it himself, _Nothing else matters to him._

She is peripheral to him. Covert attention. Not worth all the _Samanthas_ in the world.

She doesn’t get a chance to linger longer on her thoughts, because suddenly Mulder has his foot in-between two panels of metal railing on the side of the bridge. He hoists and swings one of his legs over the railing. What is he up to now?

But, oh, she knows what he’s going to do. He’s going to jump after Samantha, into that far-below freezing river, to find her. He’s willing to drown in the name of Samantha. Mulder’s constant compulsion to martyr himself is as terrifying to her as it is utterly captivating.

He braces himself to move his other leg over the railing. With her prediction proven to be true, she races out of the car, rushing to his side before he can jump. She places a firm hand on his arm, pulling him back before he can swing his other leg over. He tenses under her touch.

“Mulder, no. You’re going to drown yourself and be of no help to her if you jump off this bridge. Let’s call for a search team instead,” she insists.

“Scully, I have to-“ he begins, but she doesn’t want to hear it. She’s not letting him talk her into letting him risk his life, not after he just saved hers.

“We will find her, Mulder,” she cuts him off. He lets her hand run down his arm gently. “But you’re of no use to her dead.”

“Scully, she needs my help,” he reiterates.

“What she needs is you alive!” she pleads, her voice cracking beyond her volition, “Mulder. Please. The search team will find her.”

She has enough leftover adrenaline from earlier that she can feel her hand on his arm shaking. She hates looking so weak around Mulder.

It seems to affect him though, because he takes his leg off the railing and stands back on the bridge. He leans against the bridge and stares down at the empty lake below. Not a ripple of water in sight. He starts calling out Samantha’s name again. A mantra of _Samantha, Samantha, Samantha_. His only known omen. Why did he trade her for her?

In the moonlight, his eyes shimmer with verging tears. She wants to take him in her arms and comfort him. She wants to exorcise his favorite demon out of him. She wants to jump into the river and find Samantha for him. Instead, she gulps and follows his gaze over the bridge, into the utter nothingness below.

Mulder must realize his shouts are futile, because his cries end off with a final quiet sob and he is silent. Samantha is nowhere to be seen. _I’m still walking into that room. Every day of my life._

He looks over at Scully for the first time since Samantha and her attacker fell off the bridge. He gingerly touches the gash of blood on her forehead with a frown.

“Scully, are you sure you’re okay?” he asks. Of course he has to ask again. Mulder, why trade her for her?

“Mulder, I’m fine,” she replies. It’s standard replying procedure for her, but it never seems to stop him from asking. His hand lingers, wiping off some of the blood.

“Scully, I’m sorry. Call the search team. I have to go,” he says abruptly.

"Mulder-," she tries, but he is already running off to the car and turning on the engine to drive away.

She sighs. She’s too tired to yell after him for ditching her. The night air stills as she phones dispatch for an emergency search team.

While waiting for emergency dispatch, she thinks about how he left with her blood still on his hands.

-

Later, in the hospital, Scully’s mind wanders and revisits the thoughts she was having earlier about Mulder.

He was forced to choose between her or Samantha, and he choose her. He didn’t even tell her on the phone that it was Samantha. She wants to ask him why.

Scully catches her reflection in a hospital mirror. She looks worn out beyond repair. Grey sweater covered with blood. Bagged eyes. Her thick, frizzy hair amuck. Her necklace knocked to the side. She frowns. She was never a beauty queen, but she likes looking good.

She adjusts her necklace back to her center. Melissa said he wore it while she was gone. She thought Melissa may have been laying it on thick because of how Scully dotes on him. But maybe she was telling the truth.

Maybe Mulder is devoted to more than one person. Her heart warms.


End file.
